Trinamul leader Firhad Hakim was not allowed to enter Anis Khan’s village by angry residents in Howrah’s Amta on Friday evening when the transport minister went to meet family members of the allegedly slain student leader.

When Hakim reached Anis’s village on Friday evening, angry villagers surrounded his car and stopped him from entering the village. They questioned why was the minister was visiting the village after 42 days since Anis was allegedly murdered by cops. Greeted by “Go Back” slogans, the minister had to return from the village without meeting Anis’ family members.

“Where was he all this while? Why was he here after 42 days?” an angry villager questioned. Another person said that Anis’s family had organised a religious ritual on Friday in the memory of the deceased and Hakim had arrived there uninvited. Anis was allegedly murdered thrown to death from the terrace of his house in Amta early on February 19.

“We asked Anis’s parents if he (the minister) was invited. They said no. Then why was he here?” the angry villager asked.

The mob that surrounded Hakim's car asked him why he had arrived uninvited and shouted slogans asking him to go back.

However, a few hours before Hakim was sent back, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury met Anis's father Salem Khan at his residence. Salem had also joined Chowdhury in a rally demanding justice for his son. Leader of the Indian Secular Front and Islamic cleric Abbas Siddiqui also met Salem on Friday afternoon. While, both Chowdhury and Abbas could meet Salem, the transport minister was significantly stopped from visiting Anis’ home.

Hakim, however, claimed that it wasn’t the villagers who had stopped him. “The villagers are with us. Some outsiders conspired to do this. He (Salem) is not well, so I returned from the village,” Hakim later said.

Earlier in the day, Salem had lashed out at the administration and said there was a ploy to “buy” him off. He said chief minister Mamata Banerjee had gone to Rampurhat on Thursday and given Rs 5 lakh each to the family of the deceased, but he wouldn't be silenced with money.

"I was offered money and jobs. But I don't need them. I need justice," Salem said.

Reacting to the people forcing Hakim to return from Amta, CPM state secretary Md Salim said it was good that the people were finally realising the real character of the Trinamul.